Dragged off river by Yarmouth Rescue (good damn thing I had a cell phone).

Very long and complex surgery fortunately performed by an expert (who is a cyclist as well as a saint), he got it all back together solid with a plate (which he had designed) and 2 screws. After a challenging rehab I should be basically back to normal. I have six weeks of "toe touch" weight bearing (basically no weight on the bad leg) so the challenge will be getting through daily activities (in winter) with that.

Basically, I'm lucky as hell. I think this could have come out much worse. Lots of people have been extraordinarily helpful. Currently in a Rehab Hospital, should be home in a few days.

I got an email from the shop my Domane came in, did I want tubeless or tubes. I said tubeless but no rush ha ha.

Hope all of your weeks went better!

SparkyJoined: 08 Dec 2003
Posts: 16158
Location: Portland, OR

1/22/17 11:10 AM

What size is that Domane again? ;)

Seriously, Fuck dude! Damn and like that.

Elaine sez this is common BTW with previous hip solutions.

Be well and fastest healing possible and quick recovery as well!!!

And I have to say it again, get ahead of the constipation curve of the pain MEDs. Can not stress this enough.

Brian NystromJoined: 26 Jan 2004
Posts: 3905
Location: Nashua, NH

1/22/17 11:34 AM

Oh man, that really sucks, Dan!

Use the Domane as motivation for your recovery. Since you've already had a previous injury and surgery, you know what to do. Your high level of fitness will certainly be a benefit, so the training you've done wasn't in vain, it just turned out to be for a different "event". ;-)

Jesus SavesJoined: 16 Jun 2005
Posts: 1050
Location: South of Heaven

1/22/17 11:42 AM

Heal fast!

Marc N.Joined: 12 Jan 2004
Posts: 421
Location: Israel

1/22/17 12:40 PM

Ouch!

Not quite the post I was expecting (well, part of it was), but as we are all well aware, shit happens. I have no doubt that Brian is right, and that your fitness will aid in your recovery, which I hope will be without any complications. Be well!

SparkyJoined: 08 Dec 2003
Posts: 16158
Location: Portland, OR

1/22/17 12:41 PM

"Use the Domane as motivation for your recovery. "

No, don't tell him that. I wanna borrow it for 16 weeks. ;)

dan emeryJoined: 11 Jan 2004
Posts: 5857
Location: Maine

1/22/17 1:46 PM

Domane; pain meds

The Domane is a 58 which IIRC is too small for Sparky....:)

As to pain meds and constipation, etc., fortunately I've been taking only Tylenol for 3 days. Had a bit of constipation when taking Dilaudid but pretty much through that. Far bigger problem was that of anaesthesia turning the bladder off. Further discussion of that will be saved for a different forum, but thankfully that's mostly past....

Use the breathing training thing, I learned it is the most, bested, grandest thing for clearing your lungs following surgery.

BTW, Levi Lepinheimer blew up a Tib/Fib last week. He has pics on IG and they look horrible. It must be the time of year.

SparkyJoined: 08 Dec 2003
Posts: 16158
Location: Portland, OR

1/22/17 2:44 PM

"The Domane is a 58"

I guess my Jedi mind trick didn't make it quit coast to coast. The force is not so strong with me I guess.

You wanted a 60CM Domane....

Anyway, hang in there and feel better fast!

"Levi Lepinheimer"

Only thing I can find is on his own twitter posting?

eeesh...

SparkyJoined: 08 Dec 2003
Posts: 16158
Location: Portland, OR

1/22/17 3:02 PM

Elaine said the fixation device is to immobilize until swelling is totally in check for the actual surgery/reduction.

That is a lot of pieces! Plates, screws, and wire in his future Doc Elaine sez.

Dan probably got the cables/wire in his reduction too.
So more on topic than one might think.

dan emeryJoined: 11 Jan 2004
Posts: 5857
Location: Maine

1/22/17 3:44 PM

No cables no wires

A plate (designed by the surgeon) and 2 screws.

He knew the implant was solid, he could see it through one of the fractures.

SparkyJoined: 08 Dec 2003
Posts: 16158
Location: Portland, OR

1/22/17 3:48 PM

Did/do you have a femoral rod, or [what I thought] the hip/ball prosthesis in the femur??

sanrenshoJoined: 20 Feb 2004
Posts: 803
Location: North Vancouver

1/22/17 3:57 PM

Been there done that. My break was at the femoral head, requiring a pin and two screws (one at the knee, one at the hip).

Had the screw at the knee removed after one year due to irritation
(I could feel the tendon "popping" over the screw when I flexed my knee). I could cycle but not run for years until I finally had the pin and remaining screw removed. Now I can run again and can actually sleep on my side.

If I have one regret, it was not removing all the hardware earlier. I have no experience with plates, but if the screws bother you then get them taken out once sooner than later.

My doctor implied that for younger patients, they would have typically removed all the hardware, but at my age it was "optional" as it required major surgery again.

Good luck!

dan emeryJoined: 11 Jan 2004
Posts: 5857
Location: Maine

1/22/17 4:08 PM

Yes

In the previous post I refer to it as the "implant." The three fractures were right next to it, so it is called a pariprosthetic fracture. The plate and screws hold the femur in place while it heals, so it can continue to hold the implant in place.

The doc the ER assigned it to apparently was planning to replace the prosthesis. My doc didn't think that would work.

My doc (he did the replacement, and magically appeared in my room at 7 am Monday after I arrived late pm Sunday) is Da Man and I intend to make a generous contribution to a cause of his choice. Same with Yarmouth Rescue, who were awesome.

dan emeryJoined: 11 Jan 2004
Posts: 5857
Location: Maine

1/22/17 4:17 PM

Hardware retention

Doc says hardware stays, fine with me. He said the plate would bother me cycling a bit in a sort of rubbing, not painful, way. Who cares.

The pain with movement before surgery was by far the most excruciating I have experienced, pain meds didn't touch it, and I was scared to death it couldn't be fixed with decent function.

I had all four of my hip screws removed 9 months after the initial surgery. They were rubbing on my IT band and the squirming I'd feel when I stressed the joint certain ways was annoying, but not painful.

Linda still has the plate and 9 screws in place from her ankle fracture (fibula and medial maleolus). Other than some sensitivity if she bumps a screw head or it rubs on something, it doesn't bother her.

SparkyJoined: 08 Dec 2003
Posts: 16158
Location: Portland, OR

1/22/17 7:25 PM

You all are some screwed up folk!

I still realize just how lucky I was in 2006 with my tib/fib not being displaced fractures nor needing surgery, or even reduction.

Brian NystromJoined: 26 Jan 2004
Posts: 3905
Location: Nashua, NH

1/23/17 5:48 AM

Yeah, you're definitely lucky

The trauma caused by surgery is often worse than the injury itself.

PLeeJoined: 08 Dec 2003
Posts: 3555
Location: Brooklyn, NY

1/23/17 6:08 AM

Shit, Dan, that stinks. Heal well and heal quickly.

gregleporeJoined: 10 Jan 2004
Posts: 1613
Location: SE Pa, USA

1/23/17 8:28 AM

Geez Dan...Majorca is a jinx!

My last major accident was a break of my right arm following a crash-multiple screws and a plate, second plate in same area as I broke that same arm in my m/c crash. Damn, the hardware is annoying but too late to remove it now.

Thank goodness you had a working phone, could have been ugly otherwise.

And yeah, been there with the bladder. Following the m/c thing, I was ready to go home and self catheterize (had learned how, which btw isn't as ugly as you might think once you get over it) but it fixed itself, thank god. Now I just have the usual old man bladder stuff.

Heal swiftly, the fitness you have will help the rehab.

Tom PriceJoined: 11 Jan 2004
Posts: 415
Location: Rochester, NY

1/23/17 11:11 AM

You will have a new piece of cycling art to look at while you heal, that should help speed things up.

Brian NystromJoined: 26 Jan 2004
Posts: 3905
Location: Nashua, NH

1/23/17 11:55 AM

Do you mean his X-rays?

Just kidding! ;-)

Motivation is a funny thing that comes in many forms. When I finished my 2 weeks of at-home PT visits, which were all about getting range of motion back in my knee (not my hip), I had nothing else to do but roll my foot around on a ball and I was bored.

Since there was nobody else around to help, I dragged my bike and my trainer up from my basement by myself so I could start indoor riding. That was really stupid (the dragging, not the riding, which was OK'd by my doc) and I heard about it when my girlfriend came over and saw the stuff in the living room. Frankly, I didn't care at the time, as I was motivated to get to the next step or my recovery and wasn't going to let anything stop me. I really hate riding a trainer, but the boredom was worse.

Of course, it could have ended very differently...so don't be a dumb-ass like me!